Guidelines for the Submission and Tabulation of Protests

When notice of a public hearing with respect to a utility or other rate increase has been given by the City pursuant to Article XIIID, Section 6 of the California Constitution, the following shall apply:

Submission of Protests

1. Any property owner or utility customer may submit a writtenprotest to the City Clerk, either by mail or delivery to the CityClerk’s Office, 1201 Civic Center Blvd, Yuba City CA 95993 or bysubmitting the protest at the public hearing. Protests must bereceived by the end of the public hearing. No postmarks will beaccepted.

2. Each protest must state that it is a protest (or indicate oppositionto the proposed rates). If the City has given notices for public hearings regarding rates for both sewer and water service, andthose hearing are to be held on the same date, then the protestmay indicate whether it is made (i) with respect only to waterrates, (ii) with respect only to sewer rates, or (iii) with respect toboth water and sewer rates. If no limitation is indicated, the Citywill interpret the protest as covering all rates to be considered onthe hearing date. Email or facsimile protests cannot be accepted. Although oral comments at the public hearing will not qualify as aformal protest unless accompanied by a written protest, the City Council welcomes input from the community during the public hearing on the proposed fees.

3.A protest by a property owner that is a trust must be signed by theTrustee and identified as such with the signature (i.e., John Smith, Trustee for Smith Family Trust). Protests by property owners that are corporations, partnerships, or similar entities must be signedby a person authorized to execute documents on behalf of theproperty owner.

4. If a parcel served by the City is owned by more than one recordowner or more than one name appears on the City’s records as the customer for the property, or the customer is not the recordowner, each owner or customer may submit a protest, but onlyone protest will be counted per parcel and any one protestsubmitted in accordance with these rules will be sufficient tocount as a protest for that property.

5. In order to be valid, a protest must bear date, designation ofparcel address or parcel number, printed name, and originalsignature of the record owner or customer of record with respect to the property identified on the protest. The customer of record is the name of the person whose name is printed on the UtilityBills for the parcel. Except as set forth in paragraph 3 aboveprotests not bearing the original signature of a record owner orcustomer of record shall not be counted. Protests which havebeen altered by someone other than the person who signed them shall not be counted.

6. Any person who submits a protest may withdraw it by submittingto the City Clerk a dated written request that the protest be withdrawn. The withdrawal of a protest shall contain sufficientinformation to identify the affected parcel and the name of the record owner or record customer who submitted both the protestand the request that it be withdrawn.

7. A fee protest proceeding is not an election.

8. To ensure transparency and accountability in the fee protesttabulation, protests shall constitute disclosable public recordsfrom and after the close of the public hearing. Records shall be maintained for three years and then may be destroyed.

Tabulation of Protests

1. The City Clerk, or designee, shall determine the validity of allprotests. The City Clerk shall not accept as valid any protest if s/hedetermines that any of the following conditions exist:

a. The protest does not identify a property that will be subject tothe proposed fees.b. The protest does not bear an original signature of a recordowner or identified as trustee of the parcel identified on theprotest or of a record customer of that parcel.c. The protest does not state its opposition to the proposed feesor is illegible.d. The protest has been altered in any way by someone otherthan the person who signed it. e. The protest was not received by the City Clerk before the closeof the public hearing on the proposed fees.f. A request to withdraw the protest was received by the CityClerk prior to the close of the public hearing on the proposedfees.g. The protest or request for withdrawal is dated prior to the dateof mailing of the notices of hearing on the proposed fees.

2. The City Clerk’s decision that a protest is not valid shall constitute a final action of the City and shall not be subject to any internal appeal.

3. A majority protest exists if written protests are timely submittedand not withdrawn by the record owners, trustee, or customers with respect to, a majority (50.0% plus one) of the properties subject to the proposed fee. If both water and sewer rates are being considered, a separate determination will be made for withrespect to each of these two types of rates.

4. At the conclusion of the public hearing, the City Clerk shall countall protests received, including those received during the publichearing, and shall report the results to the City Council uponcompletion. If review of the protests received demonstrates thatthe number received is manifestly less than one-half of the parcels served by the City with respect to the fee which is the subject of the protest, then the City Clerk may advise the Council of theabsence of a majority protest without determining the validity ofall protests.

5. If, at the conclusion of the public hearing, the Clerk determinesthat s/he will require additional time to count the protests, s/he shall so advise the Council, which may adjourn the meeting to allow the count to be completed on another day or days. If so, the Council shall declare the time and place of the count, which shall be conducted in a place where interested members of the publicmay observe the counting, and the Council shall declare the time at which its meeting shall be resumed to receive and act on thereport of the Clerk.DOWNLOAD PDF